› added 11 years ago

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TIL that Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller did a “penny behind the ear trick” for television while having brain surgery. Teller had him remain conscious so that he could see the penny after Teller produced it and say it was the one he marked. The resulting footage was too disturbing to be aired.

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69yNW TIL in 2000 a Mexican woman performed an hour-long C-section on herself with a kitchen knife after 12 hours of constant pain. After 3 attempts to cut open her abdomen, she made a 17cm vertical incision (a typical one is 10cm & horizontal). But despite no medical training, both mom & child survived.
GAXBG TIL of the Braess paradox wherein overall traffic flow through a road network may decrease when more roads are added.
nb8r TIL that Häagen-Dazs’s brand name is completely nonsensical, but is meant to sound vaguely Danish: the creator “sat at the kitchen table for hours saying nonsensical words until he came up with a combination he liked. The reason he chose this method was so that the name would be unique and original”
xV5ek TIL heavy metal is used in torture interrogations because "These people haven't heard heavy metal. They can't take it. If you play it for 24 hours, your brain and body functions start to slide, your train of thought slows down and your will is broken. That's when we come in and talk to them."
mxDQR TIL About The Real Captain America - Master Sgt. Andrew 'Andy' Christian Marckesano - He served 6 full tours in Afghanistan with the 82nd Airborne and the Ranger regiment - Turned Away from the VA Hospital due to full capacity - A few days later he killed two civilians and took his own life.